• Why Smokescreen is the Best Game Ever*

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    1–2 minutes

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    No comments on Why Smokescreen is the Best Game Ever*

    I just published a post, Why Smokescreen in the Best Game Ever*, on the Six to Start blog with some game design thoughts behind Smokescreen, our latest game. It goes into a fair level of detail about some of the interesting features in Smokescreen and provides the reason why we added them; if you’re into…

  • A Metaphor for ARGs

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    5–7 minutes

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    6 comments on A Metaphor for ARGs

    In his keynote at the Netherlands Festival of Games in Utrecht, Elan Lee compared a successful game to a magnet. A good game pushes away most people, but still makes them aware of what’s going on; it pulls people towards itself; and it charges those who come closest, so that they become part of the…

  • Briefly, on British politics

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    5–7 minutes

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    12 comments on Briefly, on British politics

    In case you aren’t in the UK or haven’t been following the news lately, there is something of a crisis in British politics. Partly caused by an expense scandal in which some MPs have been making rather dubious claims, the Labour government is now seeing cabinet ministers resigning more or less every single day. Forget…

  • Some thoughts on Apple

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    3–4 minutes

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    2 comments on Some thoughts on Apple

    My current desktop is a 2006 iMac – the first generation of Intel desktops, with a Core Duo 2.0ghz processor and ATI X1600 card. Strip away the numbers, and what you get is a computer that still handles everyday tasks like watching videos and browsing the web with perfect ease. Unfortunately, when it comes to…

  • Mastery of Games

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    3–5 minutes

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    5 comments on Mastery of Games

    Chess is not a game I’ve ever been a big fan of. I played a little at school, but I never had the patience or concentration to really study the game or learn the moves. I’d often look at better players and have absolutely no idea what was going on or why they were making…

  • The Long Decline of Reading

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    3–5 minutes

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    55 comments on The Long Decline of Reading

    “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore. Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.” – Steve Jobs on eBook readers and the Amazon…

  • My Daily Read

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    4–6 minutes

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    2 comments on My Daily Read

    “You’re better off reading a bunch of blogs than most columnists.” – me, earlier today. Every time I open the Guardian, or the Times, or any other newspaper, I am disappointed by the poor quality of the columns and editorial. For the most part, they’re barely-informed polemics that are constrained by word limits and motivated…

  • Democracy Scorned

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    2–3 minutes

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    4 comments on Democracy Scorned

    The energy and public participation in the 2008 US Election has made many in the UK very jealous, and is raising questions about, say, why we don’t have primary contests to choose party leaders. Here’s how leadership contests currently work: Conservatives: MPs choose two candidates, who party members can then vote on Labour: the totality…

  • The Shadow War: Getting Boys to Read

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    2–3 minutes

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    3 comments on The Shadow War: Getting Boys to Read

    How do you get boys to read? One way is to write entertaining and dramatic books, preferably including some violence. This is what Charlie Higson did for his Young Bond series of books, and judging by the fact that they have sold close to a million copies, it’s a pretty good strategy. Of course, in…

  • Austin GDC talk

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    1–2 minutes

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    1 comment on Austin GDC talk

    After becoming irritated about putting in a lot of work to prepare talks for conferences, and then for all that work to promptly vanish into the ether once my hour is up, I resolved to do something about it. I’ve bought a reasonably good microphone and have started recording the talks that I give to…